Professional Beauty debuts new format Cape Town event

Representatives from several of the region's top salons and spas attended Professional Beauty’s Cape Town Conference & Buyer’s Forum, which took place on 18 March at The River Club in Observatory.

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Philip Woods, commercial director of TE Trade Events (PTY) Ltd, points out that the Cape Town Conference & Buyer’s Forum was a bit of a departure from Professional Beauty’s normal events in Cape Town. “It proved to be an awesome success and the overall feedback from delegates and exhibitors was extremely positive. We are now looking at the feasibility of hosting similar events in cities such as Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth, and of course adding a conference to our Professional Beauty Durban Expo in June.”

The main focus of the Cape Town Conference & Buyer’s Forum was on education, with a formal conference programme featuring top speakers presenting on pertinent business issues. These included dominating social media, successful retailing, controlling finances and cash flow, and identifying those areas in your salon or spa that need attention.

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A very popular session was an inspiring presentation by Nicky Abdinor, who was born without arms and with shortened legs for no medical explanation. A global keynote and motivational speaker, Abdinor spoke about believing in yourself and focusing on what you can do (rather than what you can’t do). She emphasised that it was important to learn to tolerate uncertainty and also to be grateful for what you have.

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An important component of the event was an exclusive table top sales forum, where conference delegates had the chance to interact with the suppliers of top beauty, nail and aesthetic medicine brands. The theme for the sales forum was ‘Passport to Success’, with each delegate tasked to get stamps in their ‘Show Passport’ from each exhibitor they visited. This proved very popular with delegates and really encouraged interaction.

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Says Jacoline Wentzel of The Spa Warehouse: “I want to thank the Professional Beauty team for a very well organised event. The format worked very well and was certainly the best we’ve had in a while.

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“The conference speakers from outside the beauty industry were certainly a breath of fresh air. It was great to hear the perspective on our industry from the outside, as well as various aspects of their businesses that we could relate to our business.”

Catherine van Niekerk of Chabelle Beauty Studio adds: “All the talks were very informative and I found them very useful.”

Gladys Sambo of Elite School Of Beauty in Zimbabwe found all the seminars really insightful. “All the speakers delivered well and the event overall was great.”

Intuitions Beauty Care’s Shireen Meyer found the combination of the exhibitors and the knowledgeable speakers very useful. “As a newbie to the industry, this event really opened my eyes.”

Chanel Vermeulen from Exclusive Beauty Solutions was the winner of Professional Beauty’s R5,000 lucky draw.

Preparations are now underway for the Professional Beauty Durban event, which takes place on 2 June at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. For more information visit www.probeauty.co.za